I went out fishing the other day a buddy to catch and relase some rainbows. My buddy caught this one rainbow which upon release floated belly up and seemed to be a sure goner. We weren't in the fish eating sort of mood so I did the best to release the poor guy. After a minute or so he came to and was on his way.
The point of this post is to pass along a few tips passed on to me for reviving fish that are floating belly up. And here they are:
-Keep the fish right side up. Fish can become so exhausted they are unable to hold themselves up. If they are left this way they will die, if they are given a helping hand to stay upright then they can eventually regain their strength.
-Gently push the fish forwards and back in order to get fresh water pushing through their gills. If you're in a river pointing its head upstream will have a similr effect.
-Do not release the fish until it has regained its strength to the point where it can swim off with authority.
Of course reading these tips is fine and dandy but a picuter is worth a thousand words. So heres a video I shot of that fish being released. Try to look for the things I just worte about in the video.
http://s28.photobucket.com/player.swf?refURL=http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php%3ftopic=14961.new/&file=http://vid28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/truthANDredemption/P1011609.flv